


Can We Be Friends?

by cloudyskiesandcurlyfries



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Childhood Friends, College graduation, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Underage Drinking, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-25 23:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyskiesandcurlyfries/pseuds/cloudyskiesandcurlyfries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From childhood friends to fiancés and everything in between</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can We Be Friends?

**Author's Note:**

> no beta so please let me know if you spot any mistakes!

Derek met Stiles when he was 10 years old. He was at the park with his mom, dad, 4 brothers and 2 sisters. They were having a picnic to celebrate the end of the school year. 

He was sitting on the swings as he watched his brothers goof off and his sisters make sandcastles. Derek never felt like he belonged with his family. His brothers were so loud and rambunctious and his sisters were almost the same. 

Derek preferred peace and quiet and while his siblings loved playing outside, Derek liked staying in and reading. 

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn’t see the little boy approaching him. 

“I said, ‘scuse me!”

Derek looked to his right to see a young boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old, standing there. 

“What?”

“Can you help me on the swing?” the boy asked, a toothy smile on his face. 

Derek nodded, hopping off his swing and picking up the kid. 

“Thanks. I’m Stiles what’s your name?”

“I’m Derek.”

“Ok. Thanks Derek.”

Derek just smiled at the kid before getting back on his own swing. He watched as Stiles struggled to get the right momentum to swing his legs back and forth. 

Derek knew if that went on any longer, the poor kid would fling himself off the swing. 

“Do you want me to push you?” Derek asked Stiles. 

Stiles nodded enthusiastically as he thanked Derek. 

Derek got behind Stiles, pushing the swing at a slow pace. 

“Are you here by yourself Stiles?” Derek asked, noticing that no parent or babysitter was offering to push their kid on the swing. 

“No. My mom is over there. She’s sick though and she gets tired a lot so I didn’t want to ask her to push me on the swing.”

Derek followed Stiles’ gaze to a beautiful women sitting under a tree. She looked exhausted as she sat there, barely finding the energy to lift her arm up and wave at her son.

“Oh. Okay.”

“Are you here alone Derek?”

“No. I’m here with my mom and my dad. And I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. They’re that group over there playing soccer.”

“How come you aren’t playing?”

“Well, I didn’t wanna play. They get too crazy sometimes. Plus, if I joined, the teams wouldn’t be even. So I told them I wouldn’t play and that way they could have even teams.”

Stiles nodded, asking Derek if he could push him higher. 

Derek found himself enjoying talking to Stiles. He 5 years old and just finished kindergarten. He has a friend named Scott and his dad was a policeman. He didn’t have any siblings so he asked Derek tons of questions on what it was like to have brothers and sisters. 

“It’s fun sometimes. I’m the middle child so I get ignored a lot. It’s ok though, I still like having them around.”

“If you want, I’ll be your friend,” Stiles said. “Scott is my only friend. Jackson says I don’t have friends because I talk too much but I told him he’s wrong. Can we be friends?”

“Yeah Stiles, we can be friends.”

20 minutes later Stiles’ mom was slowly making her way over to them. 

“Momma! Look, I made a new friend. His name is Derek and he’s 10 whole years old!”

“Wow baby that’s great.”

She looked up to Derek, smiling softly at him. 

“Thank you. I’m sure Stiles explained to you that I’m not a bad mom but sometimes I get tired.”

“Yeah, he explained it. Actually um I was wondering if maybe you could talk to my mom and exchange phone numbers or something. Like Stiles said, we’re friends now. So I’d like to hang out with him again or something.”

“Absolutely honey! Where is she?”

Derek guided Stiles and his mom over to where his mom was packing up their food. 

“Hey mom um this is my new friend Stiles. And his mom.”

Talia looked up to see her son standing there with a young boy and his mom. 

“Hi, I’m Talia,” she offered, her hand out to shake Stiles’ mom’s hand. 

“Claudia. It seems our sons have formed quite a bond this afternoon. Derek asked if we could exchange numbers to keep in touch so the boys can have play dates in the future.”

“Oh absolutely!”

Derek found himself smiling as he watched his mom take out her phone and put in Claudia’s number.

“Well thanks for today Derek. I’ll see you soon,” Stiles said, hugging Derek’s waist. 

“Yeah. See you soon buddy.”

Derek went home that day with a big smile on his face. 

After that, he and Stiles hung out once a week. They’d usually have their play dates at his house so that Claudia could stay home and sleep if she wasn’t feeling well. 

They would play board games, read books, color, watch movies, and when Derek’s oldest brother was home, he’d let them help him make cookies in the kitchen. 

Derek was over the moon. He finally had his first friend! He didn’t care that Stiles was 5 years younger than him because Stiles was his friend. 

They spent the whole summer together and when the Stilinski’s came over for an end of summer barbeque, Derek noticed something was up with Stiles. 

“Hey buddy what’s wrong?” Derek asked Stiles as they two of them ate their ice cream. 

“S’nothing.”

“Obviously it is something. Tell me. I promise I won’t tell.”

“It’s not like a secret. I’m just gonna miss you, that’s all.”

“Miss me? Why are you gonna miss me? I’m not going anywhere. Unless you’re moving away?” Derek asked, trying not to panic.

“No. But you’re a 5th grader now. I’m only a 1st grader. You won’t be my friend when we go back to school.”

“Oh of course I’ll be your friend. Just because we won’t be in the same class or have the same recess time doesn’t mean I’ll stop being your friend.”

“Really?” Stiles asked, eyes lighting up at this new information. 

“Really. Now eat your ice cream before it melts all over your hand.”

Derek and Stiles stayed best friends after that. Derek was there when Claudia died, holding onto Stiles as he cried and cried for days straight. 

Derek was there when Stiles tried to climb the fence, falling off and breaking his wrist. And Derek was there when Stiles came home one day proclaiming that he loved a girl named Lydia. 

Derek listened as Stiles talked about Lydia. She was a new girl from New York. She was pretty and had red hair and was super smart. 

Derek was so happy Stiles had a crush on Lydia but he was afraid Stiles would forget about him. 

As time went on though, Derek realized he had nothing to worry about. Lydia didn’t pay attention to Stiles, which Derek thought was stupid. Stiles was the best person he’d ever met. 

Later that year, Derek was set to start 9th grade. He went on and on about how big the high school was and how he was scared he’d get lost. 

“I know I’m only in 5th grade but I wish I could come with you Der. You’ll be fine though. You’re so cool. I bet you’ll make so many friends. If not, you have Jake there right? And Laura. I bet it’ll be easier to have your brother and sister there.”

Derek smiled back, hoping Stiles was right. 

Three days of school had gone by and Derek had himself a girlfriend. She was a senior and her name was Kate. She was kind of pretty but she had this smile that made Derek feel uncomfortable. But a 17-year old girl wanted to date him so he’d be stupid not to say yes. At least that’s what he thought. 

Derek found himself on a date one Friday night at the movie theater when he heard that voice he knows all too well. 

He turned around to see Stiles and his dad in line to buy popcorn.

“But dad please I want the candy!”

“Stiles, no. You’ve had too much sugar today. I said you can have popcorn but if you keep complaining, I’ll keep the popcorn for myself.”

Derek found himself heading over towards them to say hi. 

“Hi John, hi Stiles,” he said, getting the attention of the father and son. 

“Derek!” Stiles exclaimed, his face lighting up when he realized who was calling his name. 

“Derek son, good to see you,” John said, smiling when he noticed the young lady behind Derek. 

“Oh right! This is my girlfriend Kate. Kate, this is Stiles and his dad Sheriff Stilinski.

“Oh cute. Is this some kid you babysit or something?” Kate asked, clearly not interested in their date being interrupted. 

“What no Stiles is my-“

“Listen Der, our movie starts in like 5 minutes we need to go get seats,” Kate interrupted. 

“Oh crap yeah. Okay bye Stiles, bye John. See you guys later!” Derek said as he was dragged away from the two. 

After that, Derek spent most of his time with Kate and barely any time with Stiles anymore and he didn’t like it.

But being with Kate made him popular. He had so many guys wanting to be his friend and he even got invited to come to basketball tryouts. So Derek went and he ended up making the team.

He ended up breaking up with Kate at the end of the year when she went off to college. He wasn’t too heartbroken; he didn’t really love her anyways.

When Derek was 17 and on the varsity team, he was told he had scouts coming to watch him. He invited his whole family and for once they all cleared their schedules to come watch him play. Jake, Laura, and Johnny were back from college and Cora, Sam, and Joey were decked out in Beacon Hills basketball apparel. He looked up in the stands and saw his mom, dad, siblings, and …Stiles. 

He invited Stiles but he wasn’t sure he’d come. They’d drifted apart over the past few years. They still hung out at least once a month but Derek was a high school senior and Stiles was in 8th grade. He had Scott and apparently Lydia was talking to him now. Plus Scott had a girlfriend named Allison so Stiles had his own little friends group. And they were his own age. Derek figured it was good for him. 

Derek waved at Stiles, smiling when Stiles shyly waved back. 

Derek had his best game ever and he wasn’t sure if it was because the scouts were there or because Stiles was there. 

After that day, Derek made more of an effort to hang out with Stiles again. 

Even though he had the entire basketball team as his friends group, he didn’t feel like he belonged there. It was like his siblings all over again. They were too loud and crazy and sometimes Derek just wanted to go home and watch a movie with Stiles, not go out to get pizza. 

Derek was glad he fixed things with Stiles because he couldn’t imagine having anyone else cheering him on loudly at graduation or baking him a celebratory cake when he got accepted to UCLA. 

So Derek went on to college. He texted Stiles everyday, asking how high school was and if he’d made any new friends. He’d get responses like “Oh but you’re the only friend I need Derek” and Derek hoped it was a joke. He hoped Stiles wasn’t lonely without him. 

So he did what any concerned friend would do. He got his sister to spy on Stiles for him. 

“Derek are you kidding me?” Cora asked, and Derek was sure she was rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone. 

“Please Cora? I’m worried about him. Besides Scott, I don’t think he has any friends. And you don’t really count because I know you only talk to him when he comes over to the house and you ignore him at school.”

‘What no I don-“

“Save it Cora. Stiles told me. You guys have been in the same class for years and he tells me that you treat him like some random classmate rather than your brother’s best friend and the guy that has practically grown up at our house.”

“It’s just that he’s so –“

“Yeah. He’s so ‘Stiles.’ But he’s my best friend Cora please? Just like, make sure he isn’t eating his lunches alone or something. I need to know he’s doing ok.”

Cora mumbled something under her breath before agreeing and hanging up the phone. 

Derek was in his psychology lecture when he phone buzzed one afternoon. It was a text from Stiles. 

‘Sticking your little sister on me because you think I can’t make my own friends? Not cool Hale.’

Dammit. That was not what Derek wanted. 

He anxiously waiting until 2:30pm rolled around so he could call Stiles. 

“I didn’t stick Cora on you to make her be your friend. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Besides Scott you don’t mention any other friends.”

“Because I don’t have any other friends. I have Scott and I have you. Occasionally Allison talks to me but since her and Scott broke up it’s been kinda weird. And Lydia started dating Jackson and he hates me so I’m steering clear of her. It’s fine though. Plus like I’ve said before, I have you.”

“Yeah but I’m not there Stiles. Also sorry about Lydia. I know how much she meant to you.”

“Yeah turns out I didn’t love her. I loved the idea of her. It’s cool though. There’s actually something I wanted to talk about, but in person. Are you coming home this weekend?”

“No I’m going home next weekend for Joey’s birthday so I figured I’d stay this weekend.”

“You um – you have your own dorm right? No roommate?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Can I um - can I come visit?”

“Yeah sure. If your dad wants to drive you up, I’d love to have you here.”

“Cool. Okay cool.”

The week flew by and before Derek knew it, it was Friday afternoon and Stiles would be there in an hour or so. He ordered a pizza and sat back as he waited for Stiles to get there. 

When Stiles got there, they ate quickly before Stiles requested a tour around campus. 

“Why do you wanna see campus so badly?” Derek asked. 

“Well I’m thinking of coming here for college when I’m old enough. Seems like a cool school. Plus my best friend went here so it’s gotta be good.” Stiles said, winking at Derek. 

They eventually made it back to Derek’s room once it started getting dark. 

“Do you have any alcohol?”

“Yeah but you’re 14 so I’m not giving any to you.”

“Can’t I have like – a sip? I really need to tell you something but I need some liquid courage in me to get it out.”

After arguing about it for half an hour, Derek handed Stiles a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. 

After they drank their drinks and talked about baseball, Stiles was finally ready to talk. 

“Okay so I don’t really know how to say this but promise you won’t hate me?”

“Yeah Stiles I promise. What is it?”

“I um – I think I like boys. I mean, I like girls too but lately I’ve been feeling like I like boys.”

Stiles nervously bit his nails as he waited for Derek to say something. 

“Okay.”

“Okay?!” That’s all you have to say?”

“Well I’m not sure what to say. I mean, I’m cool with it. I don’t care who you like. As long as you’re happy and they treat you right, that’s all that matters.”

“Okay. Yeah okay,” Stiles said, looking significantly less anxious. 

“So, that’s what you came here to tell me?”

“Yeah. Sorry for wasting your whole weekend just to say that. But I didn’t wanna do it over the phone.”

“No it’s fine, I understand.”

“Alright so what are the chances you’ll give me something better than spiked lemonade? I saw that bottle of vodka under your bed.”

“Nope. We can go get chicken tenders and fries from the late night grill though if you want?”

Stiles nodded, grabbing his shoes and mumbling something about chicken.

Before Derek knew it, he was graduating from grad school. He was 25 years old with a double Bachelors in English and History with a minor in Spanish and a double Masters in Early Education and Child Psychology. 

He spent the majority of the last 7 years as a full time student, not stopping once. And because of his non-stop school, Derek hadn’t dated anyone in college. He tried the one night-stand thing but he couldn’t do it. It didn’t feel right to him and he didn’t have the time for a proper relationship so he never had one.   
The only person he talked to on a regular basis was Stiles. 

Stiles had graduated high school a couple years ago and got his Associates degree in psychology just to please his dad. He was more excited now that he had a college degree because he was going to the academy to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a deputy. 

 

Derek remembered the happy look on Stiles’ face when he walked across that stage and he couldn’t remember seeing anything so beautiful. 

So that’s why Derek was sitting in his apartment, having a major freak out about his sexuality because all he could think about was Stiles. And dating Stiles and kissing him and waking up to his best friend every morning. And how much he wanted that. 

So when there was a knock on his door and he opened it to reveal Stiles, Derek felt his heart swoon. 

Stiles looked so good. He’d always been beautiful but now at 20, he was tall and lean. His honey brown eyes were finally at Derek’s eye-level. He had this big hands and long fingers that were currently running through his hair. 

“Hi Der.”

“Holy shit. Stiles. I thought you were going on vacation with Scott.”

“Are you kidding me? I’d never miss your graduation. You’ve been my best friend since I was 5 years old. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Derek wrapped his best friend up in a hug, not caring if he was holding on a little too tightly. 

“You alright there big guy?” Stiles asked when they finally pulled apart. 

“Yeah, I’m just- it’s a big day you know. I’ve been in school for 7 years straight but I have 5 degrees so that’s gotta count for something.”

“Of course it counts for something. That’s incredible Derek. I could barely handle two years of school just to get a small Associate’s degree.”

“Yeah but you’re going on to be a deputy. That’s awesome.”

“Yeah, and you’re going on to be a college professor so we’re both pretty awesome. Anyways, your family won’t be here for a few more hours, wanna grab some food?”

“Yeah, pizza good?”

“Pizza’s perfect. Got any Mike’s Hard Lemonades for me?”

“You’re not old enough to drink yet Stiles.”

“Yeah but that didn’t stop you last time.”

Derek gave in, grabbing a couple beers and handing one over to Stiles.

“Alright Hale. So, what’s the plan? You moving to New York or Chicago to be some big time professor?”

“Actually, I accepted a position at Beacon Hills Community College. I wanted to stay close to home and it just felt right.”

“Really? You’re moving back home? Oh man this is great. After I finish training, there’s a spot for me at dad’s station so I’ll be in Beacon Hills too. How great is this?”

Derek just nodded his head, taking a long swig of beer. 

They talked a bit more but Derek just wasn’t all there. All he could focus on was how Stiles’ fingers gripped the beer bottle; how head tip his head back ever so slightly when drinking the beer. How his hands would run through his hair and the more he drank, the more his eyes started to sparkle. 

“Der, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“How come you never dated anyone in college? I mean I know you had a fling with that girl Jennifer for a while but you’ve never seriously dated anyone. How come?”

“I’ve been so busy with school that I didn’t have the time to devote to a relationship. I didn’t want to be with someone if I couldn’t give them my full attention.”

“Yeah, I get that. But you talked to me all the time. Almost as much as someone would talk to a boyfriend or girlfriend. How come you gave me all that attention?”

“Because you’re you.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Not really.”

“Derek.”

“Stiles.”

“Derek. Spill.”

“It’s nothing. You’re my best friend and you’re worth talking to. I haven’t met anyone else who was worth talking to.”

Derek watched as Stiles sat there not saying anything. 

“Derek, if I do something right now, promise you won’t like hit me?”

“Depends on what you do.”

“Okay.” 

Derek sat there as Stiles leaned closer to him, putting a hand on his cheek. 

Derek’s heart started to beat faster at Stiles got closer and closer and before he knew it, their lips were touching. 

Stiles leaned into it more, bringing his other hand up to wrap around the back of Derek’s neck.

It took Derek a second to realize what was happening but when he did, he practically pounced on Stiles. 

He pushed Stiles back so he was lying on the couch and Derek was above him. 

Derek let his lands roam down Stiles’ body as he kissed him. He wasn’t sure how to explain to Stiles what he felt for him so he hoped his kiss would be enough of an explanation for now. 

They eventually stopped when Derek heard a knock on his door. He glanced up at the clock and realized it was 5pm and that was probably his family. 

“Oh shit that’s my family ok listen I promise we’ll talk about this later okay?” Derek said breathlessly.

Stiles nodded his head and Derek went to answer the door. 

“Hey guys,” he said when he opened the door to see his family standing there. 

“Hey bro congra- oh hi Stiles,” Johnny said as he peered around Derek. 

“Hi guys,” Stiles said back, trying to look like he wasn’t totally just humping Derek. 

“Uh Stiles?” Laura spoke up. 

“Yeah?”

“Why are you wearing your shirt backwards?”

Derek’s family started laughing as they looked at Stiles to see his face go bright red. 

“I um – well I just –“

“So clearly we interrupted something here,” Derek’s dad laughed. “Well congrats son. We’re gonna head down to the stadium and we’ll see you after the ceremony alright?”

Derek avoided eye contact with his family as he nodded his head, ushering them out of his apartment. 

“Well that was absolutely mortifying,” Derek said when he finally spoke up. 

“Yup, pretty much. But listen I know you have to go soon to check in and be with your classmates so I’ll see you after the ceremony alright?”

Derek kissed Stiles one more time before heading to the bathroom to fix his hair. 

Derek was on cloud nine. He had a goofy smile on his face as he sat through the ceremony, as he walked across the stage to get his diploma, and as he walked out of the stadium to find his family and Stiles. 

He let his mom wrap him up in a hug, tears falling from her eyes as she congratulated her baby for graduating. He went around getting hugs from the rest of his family. 

“Alright honey we know how much you want to be with Stiles so we’ll see you later okay? Don’t forget we have dinner reservations at 8pm. We’ll see you at the restaurant. And bring Stiles,” his mom said. 

Derek smiled, thanking them as he walked over to Stiles. 

“Well, congratulations Mr. Graduate.” 

“Thank you Stiles,” Derek said before leaning in for another kiss. 

“Listen can we go talk? We only have like an hour before mom is expecting both of us to join them at dinner. But I want to have this conversation sooner than later.”

“Lead the way big guy.”

Derek took Stiles to his favorite place on campus. It was a small little pond with a bench at the edge. 

They held hands as they walked there, not letting go even when they sat down. 

“So I’ve gonna admit, I thought you were gonna rip my face off when I kissed you.”

“When I saw you at your graduation, you had this big, genuine smile on your face. And I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And then I thought about you. And how you’ve always been there for me. And how badly I wanted to hold your hand and kiss you and date you and it’s really all I’ve been able to think about for the last 3 weeks.”

“Same. I mean, I’ve felt that way about you since I was 15 years old but same.”

They sat in silence, holding hands as they just looked at each other. 

“So Der, does this mean we’re like, boyfriends now?”

“If that’s something you want, yeah, I’d like that.”

“I’d love that.”

2 years later, Derek took Stiles for a walk. They walked around the city for a bit before heading towards the park. 

“The park?”

“Yeah, c’mon.”

Derek led Stiles through the park and towards the swing set. 

“The swings? Feeling nostalgic today babe?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Get on the swing, I’ll push you,” Derek said. 

“Okay let’s go Der push me!” Stiles said. 

When Derek didn’t push him, Stiles turned around and nearly fell out of the swing. 

Behind him, Derek was down on one knee, a ring in his hand. 

“Holy shit.”

“Stiles. 17 years ago this is where we met. You asked me to help you up on the swing and push you. And from that day, we’ve been best friends. I’ve never told you this before but before you, I never had a friend. You were my first friend. And my brothers used to make fun of me for having a friend who was so little but I didn’t care. You were awesome and I was so happy you wanted to be my friend. You get me. You understand that sometimes I need to be alone or need down time. You know all my secrets and I know all yours. And the last two years of my life have been the best two years. Not only were you my best friend but my boyfriend too. You’re the love of my life and now it’s time to ask. Stiles, will you marry me?”

Derek watched Stiles’ eyes fill with tears as he furiously nodded his head. 

“Yes. Yes yes yes one hundred times yes. Of course I’ll marry you. Oh god I can’t believe you brought me back to this exact spot where we met you giant sap I’m so in love with you.”

Derek got up, slipping the ring on Stiles’ finger. 

This was only the beginning of the rest of their life together and he couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](http://www.dylanlovesthemets.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Sterek Writing Sideblog](http://www.cloudyskiesandcurlyfries.tumblr.com/)


End file.
